Shallow water warning signal



Dec. 27, 1960 R. B. MATTSON SHALLOW WATER WARNING SIGNAL Filed July 29, 1959 INVENTOR. fiat/010i [3 fi7fi77f0 f nited States Patent Ofiice 2,965,132 Patented Dec. 2.7, 1960 2,966,132 SHALLOWWATER WARNING SIGNAL Rudolph B. Mattson, 35 WQBarber Ave., Wbodbury, NJ.

FiledJuly 29,, 19s9,ser. No. 830,252.

2 Claims. 01. 116E113 This invention relates to boats and particularly to boats operating in comparatively shallow water, and in particular includes a feeler pivotally mounted on the side of the hull of a boat with a signal, such as a flag extended upwardly therefrom and with the mounting element extended through the hull whereby an arm positioned between opposed springs retains the signal in an upright position with the feeler extended downwardly except when the signal is manually actuated and secured in a horizontally disposed position with the feeler out of the water and extended toward the stern of the boat.

The purpose of this invention is to warn the operator of a boat that he is approaching shallow water and that there is danger of fouling the propeller or damaging the bottom of the boat.

Many ships, and particularly fishing craft operate in shallow water and when the water is affected by the tide the boat often drops to contact a river bed or the floor of a bay and in such instances holes are torn in the bottoms of boats and, particularly when operating in Alaska waters blades are ground from propellers. With this thought in mind this invention contemplates a warning signal including a feeler extended downwardly slightly below the bottom of a boat and having a signal arm extended upwardly whereby upon engagement of the feeler with an obstruction the signal arm is pivoted toward the bow or stern of the boat.

The object of this invention is, therefore, to provide a warning signal for boats or ships to advise a skipper that he is in shallow water.

Another object of the invention is to provide a signal assembly for small boats to warn an operator of a boat that he is operating in shallow Water in which the signal assembly may readily be installed on boats now in use.

A further object of the invention is to provide a signal assembly for warning the operator of a boat that the boat is in shallow water in which the signal assembly is of a simple and economical construction.

With these and other objects and advantages in view the invention embodies a feeler carried by the lower end of a rod, a signal arm extended upwardly from the rod, a shaft extended through and rotatably mounted in a side of a hull of a boat, means for mounting the rod on the outer end of the shaft, and an inner arm positioned between opposed springs mounted on the inner end of the shaft and positioned with extended ends of the springs attached to the side of the boat upon which the signal device is mounted.

Other features and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description taken in connection with the drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of the improved shallow water warning signal showing the signal pivotally mounted in a side of a hull of a boat.

Figure 2 is an elevational view similar to that shown in Figure 1 also showing the shallow Water signal, with the parts shown on an enlarged scale and with parts broken away.

Figure 3 is an elevational view taken on line 33' of Figure 2 showing the opposed springs on the inside of a hull of the boat and an arm to which the springs are con: nected which retains the warning signal in an upright position.

Referring now to the drawing wherein like reference characters denote corresponding parts the shallow water signal of this invention includes a rod 16 a ball 11 providing a feeler threaded on the lower end of the rod and secured in position by a lock nut 12, and arm 13 having a warning signal 14' on the upper end secured to the up per end of the rod Iii by a coupling 15, a shaft 16 ex tended through-the-wall of'a boat, flanges 17 on asleeve 13 positioned around the shaft and secured by lock nuts 19 and 20 against inner and outer surfaces of the wall 21 of a boat, a spring arm 22 mounted in the inner end of the shaft 16 and extended upwardly therefrom with the feeler in an operative position, and springs 23 and 24 secured to the inner surface of the wall 21 and positioned to retain the arm 22- in a vertical position with the signal 14 extended upwardly.

The upper end of the rod 16 is provided with threads 25 on which lock nuts 26 and 27 are threaded and by which the rod is secured in position in the shaft 16. The upper end of the rod is provided with threads 28 by which the upper end is threaded in the coupling 15, in the upper end of which the lower end of the signal arm 13 is threaded.

The signal 14 is secured to the upper end of the signal arm 13 by conventional means.

The spring arm 22 is provided with a lower threaded end 29 which extends through the shaft 16 and on which lock nuts 30 and 31 are positioned, as shown in Figure 2. The upper end of the spring arm 22 is provided with eyes 32 and 3-3 in which ends of the springs 23 and 24 are hooked, the outer ends of the springs being secured in eyes 34 and 35 of eye bolts 36 and 37 which are secured, by lock nuts 38 and 39 in outwardly extended sections 40 of clip angles 41. The clip angles are secured to crossbeams of a boat by bolts 42.

The flanges 17 are provided with bolt holes 43 by which the flanges are secured in position and, as shown in Figure 1, sealing gaskets or washers 44 may be provided between the flanges and surfaces of the cross-beam or wall of the boat thereby providing means for sealing the opening through which the sleeve extends.

The inner wall of the boat may be provided with a hook 45 for retaining the spring arm 22 in a downwardly disposed position, as indicated by the dots 46 whereby the feeler 11 is actuated upwardly to substantially a horizontal position when the signal assembly is not in use. In this movement the spring 24 is unhooked from the eye 33 so that the spring 24 may hang downwardly, as indicated by the dotted lines in Figure 3.

The signal assembly may be positioned on any other part of the boat and may be used on boats of different types and designs.

It will be understood that modifications, within the scope of the appended claims, may be made in the design and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a shallow water signal, the combination which comprises a sleeve designed to be positioned in a wall of a boat, a shaft extended through and rotatably mounted in said sleeve, flanges on opposite ends of the sleeve, lock nuts threaded on the sleeve for securing the sleeve in position in the wall of a boat, a rod having a ball providing a feeler on the lower end adjustably mounted in one end of said shaft, a coupling on the upper end of the rod, a signal arm secured in the coupling on the upper end of the rod, a vertically disposed spring arm mounted in 3 the end of a shaft opposite to the end in which the rod is mounted, opposed springs attached to the upper end of the spring arm, and means for attaching extended ends of the springs to a wall of a boat in which the signal is positioned.

2. In a shallow water signal, the combination which comprises a sleeve designed to be extended through an opening in the side of a hull of a boat, flanges positioned on ends of the sleeve, lock nuts threaded on ends of the sleeve, a shaft extended through and rotatably mounted in the sleeve, a rod adjustably mounted in one end of a shaft, a ball providing a feeler on the lower end of the rod, a coupling on the upper end of the rod, a signal arm secured in the coupling, a spring arm mounted in the end of the shaft opposite to the end in which the rod is mounted, opposed springs attached to the extended end 4 of the spring arm, clip angles and eye bolts for attaching extended ends of the springs to the wall of the hull of the boat, and a hook on the inner surface of the wall of the hull of the boat for retaining the spring arm in substantially a horizonal position with the rod having the feeler on the lower end and the signal arm also in substantially horizontal positions.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,009,258 Griswold July 23, 1935 2,183,438 Zaiger Dec. 12, 1939 FOREIGN PATENTS 17,969 Great Britain 1906 20,065 Great Britain 1910 

